Last.



UNITED STATES Patented March 29, 1904.

PATENT OFFICE..

.LON WESTON, OE BEOOKTON, MASSACHUSETTS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 755,820, dated March 29, 1904.

Application filed .October 17, 1903. Serial No. 177,394. (No model.)

To a/ZZ wle/01% it may concern:

Be it known that I, LON WESTON, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of Brockton, in the county of Plymouth and State of Massachusetts, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Lasts, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to improvements in lasts of that kind in which the fore-part section and the heel-section are pivotally connected and capable of being shortened or collapsed, so that the lasts can be removed from the shoes at any time in their manufacture without disturbing the shapes of the shoes.

rIhe invention has for its object means for holding the sections expanded while the heelsection is placed on a jack or shoe-machine spindle, as will hereinafter be more fully shown and described, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, wherein- Figure l isa bottom plan view of my improved last', showing it in its expanded or normal position. Fig. 2 is a longitudinal section on the line 2 2 shown in Fig. 1, and Fig. 3 is a similar longitudinal section showing the sections collapsed.

Similar letters refer to similar parts wherever they occur in the diiferent parts of the drawings. s

In the drawings, A represents the fore-part section, and B the heel-section. These sections are pivotally connected together by means of any hinge; but I prefer a hinge-pin C, going through the heel-section, and a metal plate D, secured in a suitable manner in a longitudinal slit in the fore-part section, and in practice I prefer to secure such metal plate D to the fore-part section by means of pins or rivets t a, as shown in the drawings.

E represents a jack or machine spindle on which the heel-section of the last is held during certain processes of manufacture, said heelsection being provided with a vertical cylindrical recess, preferably lined with a metal sleeve or bushing Bl for the reception of the spindle, as is common in lasts. In the heel-section is made a vertical slit Bll for the reception and movement of the rear end of the metal plate D, as shown in Figs. 2 and 3. If a sleeve B is usedin the recess of the heelsection B, I make in the side of said sleeve a cut-away portion through which the rear end of the metal plate D enters and can pass during the collapsing of the sections, as shown in Figs. 2 and 3.

F in Fig. 2 is a substantial triangular cut or sawed away portion between the fore-part and the neel sections to enable said sections to be contracted by turning the same one relative to the other on the hinge-pin C, as shown in Fig. 3.

The upper surface of the sections A. B may be provided with a metal bottom-covering, as is common in lasts, suchV metal covering being, however, not shown in the drawings.

In using the device the sections are eX- panded, as shown in Fig. 2, and placed on the spindle E, causing them to be held locked in the eXpanded position shown in said figure by the rear end of the metal plate D being held in contact with the spindle E, preventing the last from being collapsed while it is used on the spindle. When it is desired to remove the shoe from the last, the latter is raised suficiently to cause the rear end of the metal plate D to be disengaged from the spindle E, as shown in Fig. 3, and then the fore-part sectionA may be swung downward, as shown in said gure, thus shortening the last and enabling the shoe to be readily removed.

The construction of this my improved last makes it convenient to change the styles without making entire new lasts, as any number of toe-part or fore-part sections may be used with one heel-section of the same size.

In many cases it is preferable to construct the heel-section of the last of malleable iron or some other metal, preferably cast with recesses, so as to reduce the weight as much as is desirable. (Such recesses are, however, not shown in the accompanying drawings.) The object of making the heel-section of metal is to render it more substantial than when made of wood, especially the hinge. It also avoids using a sleeve in the spindle-hole and the eX- tra metal plate on the bottom.

Having thus fully described the nature, construction, and operation of my invention, I wish to secure by Letters Patent and claim- A divided hinged last, comprising a fore-part IOO section and aheel-seetion, pivotally connected, and the plate is in engagement with the latter the heel-section being provided with a slit substantially as, and forthe purpose set forth. IO communicating with the spindle socket, in In testimony whereof I have aixed my sigcombination with a plate secured to the forenature in presence of two Witnesses.

5 part section, and extending into the slit in the LON WESTON.

heel-section in which said plate is movable, Witnesses: and is adapted to hold the sections expanded MARY R. BACON,

when the last is placed upon the jack-spindle LAURA A. GREENMAN. 

